Who We Are

The Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) is a division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). It provides secretariat support to the United Nations Programme in Public Administration (GA resolution 723 (VIII)[1] of 23 October 1953 and ECOSOC resolution 1199 (XLII)[2] of 24 May 1967).

Through its normative and operative work, it assists countries on transformative governance and innovative public administration in advancing sustainable development, on the basis of an integrated approach by:

(a) Providing secretariat and substantive support to the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council on issues related to governance and public administration;

(b) Promoting greater awareness, common approaches, understanding and sustainable policy options among Governments through advocacy and knowledge transfer on good governance;

(c) Providing advisory services and capacity-building tools based on research and analysis;

(d) Strengthening partnerships and cooperation with other international, regional and professional organizations, both public and private, and within and outside the United Nations system, including through the United Nations Public Administration Network.

Our Mission

To assist the Member States of the UN in fostering effective, efficient, transparent, accountable, innovative and citizen-centred public governance, administration and services for sustainable development.